JACKSONVILLE — The East Coast Invitational team basketball camp begins today in Jacksonville, and three area squads will participate.

Arendell Parrott Academy, Kinston High School and South Lenoir are entered for the 2014 ECI.

Former Kinston head Wells Gulledge will coach his new team, Parrott, for the first time in live game action tonight at 7 on Court 1 of the Jacksonville Commons Recreation Center.

“There’s a lot of excitement that comes along when you have a new program,” said Gulledge, who was hired to coach the Patriots in April.“Certainly, we haven’t spent enough time with one another to be where we’re going to be in January or February.”

Gulledge, the camp director, expects that Parrott will make some mistakes at the ECI to learn from before the season begins.

Jacksonville Northside defeated Kinston, 70-66, in the semifinals last year. The Monarchs went on to beat Hickory, 48-46, in overtime to claim the title, propelling a run that led them to their first NCHSAA 2-A East Regional appearance.

The camp’s summer exhibition contests can play a vital role in teams’ progress toward the upcoming season, as Northside coach Tony Marshburn learned during his team’s historic run that began at the ECI.

Jacksonville was also the first Onslow County team to win the tournament championship last summer.

“It gave us a ton of confidence,” Marshburn said. “In the East Coast, you have to beat very good teams.”

The Monarchs faced the Vikings once more in the regional round of state playoffs this year, where their road ended. Kinston went on to defeat North Rowan for the state championship, its third consecutive.

After a summer of travelling to different basketball camps, the ECI will feature Kinston star Brandon Ingram. The five-star forward picked up three college offers from Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA over the break.

The camp concludes Sunday, with games being played at Jacksonville Commons Recreation Center, Jacksonville Commons Middle School and Northside High School.

Kinston opens the tournament with Dixon, Parrott plays East Carteret and South Lenoir will face New Hanover.

Daily News reporter Chris Miller contributed to this report. Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

The single-elimination tournament play begins at 3 p.m. The top two teams from each pool advance to the gold bracket, the third and fourth-place teams play in the silver bracket and the last two teams in each pool play in the bronze bracket.